#national adoption awareness month

[sweetlittledaisy7]

Just a reminder.

1. Stop using adoptees in abortion debates.

2. Stop sharing the fact you've adopted and the child's story.

3. Adoption isn't the answer to abortion. Many kids are available for adoption and aren't adopted. We need more health care benefits not adoptions.

4. Adoptive parents shouldn't be seen as saviors. We shouldn't be made to feel grateful.

5. Stop it with the child to grow up to ne the next Lebron James, Steve Jobs, cure for cancer. All of these things require resources and a dedicated family. A child born into certain circumstances will have a harder time just getting a basic education. Also, Simone Biles shouldn't be made the face of adoption or foster care. Being adopted by your rich /parents grandparents doesn't represent all of us adoptees. It's rare in foster care. If her parents weren't rich, they wouldn't be able to afford gymnastics as, from what I was told, many foster parents aren't rich. So, using Simone as some kind of argument against abortion and for adoption is gross. Her family simply had the resources to afford such an expensive sport that has nothing to do with adoption. Plus she's with family not strangers. That's different. Plenty of kids currently in foster care many people don't care about.

6. The system is broken. Adoption doesn't mean better life. Some adoptees were abused or even rehomed aka disrupted from their adoptive homes. Many kids enter foster care and go from home to home until aging out. Some adoptees don't have good relationships with their adoptive parents. It's not a one size fits all.

7. Adoption is hard work for both sides. The adoptee and the adopted parent. It's not all sunshine and rainbows. I often feel I'm not good enough. I'm getting married soon and I have doubts of being a good wife and even if I'll be a good mom. Sometimes I don't like being adopted because it was something I didn't chose and it explains why I'm a control freak. Adoption leaves a huge hole in your heart and soul. My own birth mom didn't want me and that will never change. As I get older, it only gets harder.

[ametistapp]

Since it's Autism Awareness Month, here's

Why the puzzle piece is offensive to the Autistic Community

[Large text: Why the puzzle piece is offensive to the Autistic Community]

Unfortunately, the most commonly used symbols to represent autism are all puzzle related, like the ones bellow.

These symbols and similar ones are typically used by Autism Organizations that are run by allistic people rather than autistic, Autism Speaks being the best-known example across the internet, but not the only one.

I'm not going to go deep into how bad Autism Speaks is, but just to leave you with the tip of the iceberg, know they used to put out ads that demonized autistic people (and even one in which one of the organization's leaders spoke about wanting to drive herself and her autistic daughter off a bridge).

Autism Speaks, and many others, attempt to "teach" people about autism, without hearing what actually autistic people have to say, and that's their biggest (but not at all only) problem.

Now, stay with me as we dive into history...

The puzzle piece was first used as a symbol for autism in 1963, by UK's National Autism Society, later on being adopted by Autism Speaks, which made it more popular.

Back then, autism awareness campaigns were viewed as being similar to, for example, cancer awareness ones, because autism was seen as an illness, a disease (which it is not).

As I've made clear before, the puzzle piece is heavily associated with organizations that spread misinformation about autism, making it, of course, already a bad symbol to represent us, but there's something I personally feel bothers us a lot more, and that is the symbolism of the puzzle piece.

The puzzle piece represents an idea of "mystery" and — you guessed it — being "puzzled".

And us, autists, don't really appreciate being called confusing.

Not only that, these words were often used to describe autism offensively in the past (and still are). And, on top of that, most times, when you find a puzzle supposed to represent autism, it is incomplete.

Isn't the message clear enough?

We're people, not puzzles that have to be worked out. We're not incomplete and we're not "puzzled".

So

Which symbols can you use for autism awareness?

[Large text: Which symbols can you use for autism awareness?]

The infinity rainbow symbol is common for all neurodivergent people, while the golden infinity is specific for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder, in case you didn't know the acronym).

The infinity symbol represents the complexity and vastness of neurodivergence and autism.

Autism is less about "severity" and more about different struggles in different topics and areas (though not a lot of people seem to understand that, unfortunately). After all, autism is a spectrum, not a scale.

And if you're interested in why golden is the color of choice for us, that'd be because the periodic symbol for gold is Au, which I think is very clever, haha.

Some people also like to use red or plain yellow, I don't know a lot about that, but I'd recommend you research it.

And since we're on the topic of color, just a warning: in the Autistic Community we kind of avoid using blue to represent us, especially because it is heavily associated with Autism Speaks' "Light It Up Blue" movement.

Blue is seen as a representation of feelings like sadness, as well as being commonly associated with boys (this is important because women and other AFAB are often misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed because many people still think autism is only found in boys, and because many traits are viewed as "normal behavior" in AFAB people).

This isn't to say you can't use blue in the title of your PowerPoint presentation about ASD, it's just a thing we try to avoid.

Well, that should be all.

I decided to make this post because I've seen many people post about which symbols to use for Autism Awareness Month, but no one explaining why.

Thought this could help some poor lost soul understand it, lol

Happy Autism Awareness Month, my beloved Yippies, and a thank you to everyone who stopped to read <3 (heart).

Now I'm gonna go clean my search history and my gallery, just reading "Autism Speaks" gives me the ick.

[choicesnovchallenge]

This month, I encourage you to create any fanworks of your choice inspired by November holidays, fun facts and even create a birthday gift to the members of the fandom born in November. You can choose the prompt you vibe the most, pair up two or more prompts, combining them with prompts from Choices fandom events and other general prompt lists.

Holidays and Events

National Adoption Month

National Native American Heritage Month

No Shave November

Transgender Awareness Month

01. All Saints' Day / World Vegan Day / National Authors Day

02. Dia de Los Muertos

03. Sandwich Day / Cliché Day

04. Book Lovers Day

05. Bonfire/Fireworks Night / Destiel day (I'm sorry but there's no way I wouldn't include this iconic Tumblr holiday 😅)

08. Cook Something Bold Day

09. World Freedom Day

10. Forget Me Not Day

11. Singles Day

12. Diwali / Chicken Soup For The Soul Day

13. Ides of November (Festival Of Jupiter) / World Kindness Day

16. World Philosophy Day

17. Take A Hike Day

18. National Princess Day

20. Black Awareness Day

22. Music/Musicians Day / Go For A Ride Day

23. Thanksgiving / National Expresso Day

24. Black Friday / Buy Nothing Day

25. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

26. National Cake Day

28. French Toast Day

29. Lemon Cream Pie Day

Astronomical events

03. Jupiter at opposition - best day to see Jupiter and its moons (using a telescope)

13. Uranus at opposition - best day to see Uranus (using a telescope)

17-18. Leonids Meteor Shower (visible to the naked eye)

Facts

Birthstones: Topaz and Citrine

Flower: Chrysanthemum

Fruits: Apple, cranberry

Zodiac signs: Scorpio (until 21st) / Sagittarius (starting in Nov 22nd)

Birthday babes

04. whenyourheartskipsabeat

06. deb-1106

11. twinkle-320

16. jamespotterthefirst

17. peonyblossom

29. iaminlovewithtrr

29. katedrakeohd

30. kingliam2019

[gift suggestions]

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Chuck Ross

An imam linked to prominent Michigan Democrats like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Rashida Tlaib said in a sermon this month that pro-Israel members of Congress were "stooges" of the Jewish state who should be charged with "treason."FreeBeacon

On May 3, Hassan Qazwini, the imam of the Islamic Institute of America, railed against lawmakers who days earlier voted for the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act. The measure, which passed with a vote of 320-91, would require the Department of Education to adopt a widely accepted definition of anti-Semitism for investigations into anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses.

"If there was justice in this country, those congressmen and women would be indicted and convicted of treason," said the Iraq-born Qazwini, whose remarks were first reported by the Middle Eastern Media Research Institute. He asserted lawmakers who voted for the bill "do not work for the interest of the United States, rather for the interests of a foreign country."

"Nothing but stooges of Israel," he said.

Two months before the fiery sermon, Tlaib and Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud, a rising star in the anti-Israel movement, attended a fundraiser with Qazwini for the Islamic Institute of America, based in Dearborn Heights. Qazwini honored Tlaib and Hammoud at the banquet for their "courage and outspokenness against American biases towards Israel." The trio posed for a photo at the ceremony, attended by a number of Dearborn city officials and Arab-American community leaders.

Whitmer, considered a potential Democratic presidential candidate, appeared at a fundraiser for the mosque in 2022 and was photographed with Qazwini.

Qazwini’s anti-Semitic views are nothing new, raising questions for Tlaib and Hammoud about their affiliation with the cleric. In 2020, Qazwini came under fire for his remarks several years earlier that the terrorist group ISIS "somehow is connected to Israel." In a 2016 sermon, Qazwini said that Israel has used the United States as a "cash cow" and that President Barack Obama was "bowing to the pro-Israeli lobby." He referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who Qazwini later endorsed for president, as "an honorable man, even though he is a Jew."

Tlaib’s office and Hammoud’s office did not respond to requests for comment about their recent contact with Qazwini.

Tlaib’s affiliation with anti-Israel and pro-terrorist elements are well known. She has met with and attended fundraisers hosted by numerous Hamas supporters. Qazwini contributed $500 to her congressional campaign in 2021, according to campaign finance records. The House of Representatives censured her for circulating the statement, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," a call for the eradication of Israel.

While Tlaib has been somewhat marginalized within the Democratic Party, Hammoud has emerged as a darling of the pro-Palestinian cause. In a glowing profile last month, the Washington Post praised Hammoud for leading the anti-Israel movement while balancing the duties of mayor of a medium-sized city. The Post, which said Hammoud has gone from  "little-known mayor to national figure," touted Hammoud’s refusal to meet with Biden campaign officials earlier this year over opposition to President Joe Biden’s military support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

Unmentioned in the positive press coverage is Hammoud’s alliance with Dearborn-based activists who endorse Hamas’s violence. Osama Siblani, the publisher of the Arab-American News, introduced Hammoud at an event in 2022 with a speech in which Siblani called on the United States to provide Palestinians with "military aid to fight Israelis." Siblani has called Hamas and other terrorist groups "freedom fighters" and urged Islamic militants to fight Israel with "stones" and "guns."

Hours after the Hamas’s Oct. 7 invasion, in which 1,200 Israelis were murdered, Hammoud said the attack should be viewed in the "context" of Israel’s "illegal military occupation" of Gaza.

Dearborn has emerged as a hotbed of anti-Israel activity under Hammoud’s watch, with the Wall Street Journal dubbing the city "America's Jihad Capital."

Hammoud and Tlaib decried the moniker. Weeks later, attendees at a rally outside Dearborn City Hall chanted, "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

[doctorbunny]

So I thought it'd be silly and detract from this post to talk about fandom underneath it But I've been looking for a way to talk about this and I think this is as good a start as any.

I keep seeing a lot of people confused as to why Kazui, assuming he is a gay/aro/other closet LGBT man would want to 'decieve' Hinako by lying to her about being in romantic love with her and marrying her

It makes sense, if you're young and from the right area, you might not know a lot of history, its certainly not taught in schools. For example, to many people 'gay panic' is a cute trope, wherein a person struggles with their newly discovered identity and not a legal defence people used to excuse the beating and murder of gay people

Kazui is 39 years old. He would've turned 40 in August 2020, meaning he was born in 1980

When the comic above about Bert and Ernie getting a civil union (not even marraige yet) was made in 2003, he would've been 23.

By the time gay marraige was legalised in the US, it was 2015, Kazui would've been 35 (and despite Kazui being Japanese, because other countries like to copy America, the US legalising gay marraige was absolutely celebrated by LGBT people worldwide)

(here's a section of Our Dreams At Dusk a manga that began publication months before the legalisation of gay marraige in the US showing just two states legalising gay marraige as being news worthy to LGBT people in Japan) The first Asian country to legalise gay marraige was Taiwan in 2019 Japan is expected to be the second... but they're taking their time

Gender identity and sexual orientation are also not nationally protected civil rights, meaning protection from discrimination depends on the prefecture you live in.

And this is without getting into darker subjects like higher self harm/suicide rates or violent crimes against LGBT people

I don't want to be doom and gloom, many people are becoming more aware and accepting of LGBT people. But Kazui had every reason to wish to remain closeted

For all people talk about a 'divorce stigma' I believe it is silly to have expected a gay man in the 2000's, when many people even in the states thought gay marraige was unattainable in their lifetime, to have considered that when he got married to someone in an attempt to conform to society Especially because most difficulty to remarry after divorce comes from views surrounding custody laws and adoption. A lot of people don't want to get in a relationship with someone who already has children since they don't view them as their own on account of being blood related. This is probably why Fuuta's mother left Fuuta and his sister with their father. It's very notable that Milgram lampshades how by Kazui's age he was 'expected' to have children but didn't. We don't know Hinako's opinion on having children, but its possible Kazui intentionally didn't have any with her for this reason (despite feeling melancholy he could've had a child Muu's age by now)

Shidou had children (the eldest of which he likely sired while still being in medical school), Mahiru was still in university and thinking about planning a family, Amane notes that her mother gave birth to her when she was Mahiru's age. (TLs from Rochisama)

These aren't malicious feelings imo. This is Kazui noticing a coworker he likes is romantically interested in him and taking a chance on her in the hopes that playing a role as a straight man will make him into one. (unfortunately the suit doesn't fit) There is a Japanese saying of 出る杭は打たれる 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered in' suggesting it is better to not stand out (interestingly, the below lyric is the same in Japanese and English but in French its more like 'I can't take it anymore, I'm different')

It's also worth noting that gay people getting into heterosexual relationships even outside of Japan, used to be Extremely Common. Like my mother has a co-worker who did it

In addition, Yokohama is one of the more expensive places to live in Japan. Mixed with his expensive looking wedding and the traditonal dress of the family at his wedding. It's very likely he comes from a wealthy (conservative) background which would contribute to pressures

I'm rambling a little, i'm quite tired. But I don't want people to think this means they Have to vote Kazui innocent. I don't know your theories. Maybe you think he's straight or sexuality is entirely irrelavent to his crime or you think he's gay but you just want to vote him guilty for some other reason. Any reason is allowed (although non-milgram fans trying to use him as a luck shrine has to be pretty weird)

I just think that when you judge Kazui as a gay man who 'lied' to a straight woman, you need to look at the context it happened in and the many real people who still exist in marraiges like that. Beware whomst you call deceptive or manipulative in a world were heterosexuals feel entitled to your immediate coming out.

[redjaybathood]

This is not my text but a translation of a text originally posted here.

Give the author on twitter a like, a reblog and a follow while you are at it.

"Today commemorates the death of Noman Çelebicihan, a leader of the Crimean Tatar people.

January 26, 1918, he was imprisoned as the result of the Red Terror, and a month later, on February 23, in Sevastopol (Aqyar) they shot him and threw his body into the sea. 

I will talk about why it is important to learn about him, below.

Noman Çelebicihan was the one who revived the tradition of Qurultay, a national democratic assembly.

It was under his leadership that the Crimean Tatar self-awareness began to flourish for the first time since the annexy of Crimean Khanate (1783).

During the February Revolution of year '17, demand for self-awareness in society is growing, and in April, Çelebicihan becomes a comimissioner of spiritual leadership and first democratically elected mufti of Crimea. This was when he also became the first Mufti of Muslims of Lithuania, Poland, and Belarus. 

Meanwhile, the Muslim Executive Committe becames the main executive body of the government. 

In Summer 1917, Crimean national military units began to form, the so called Squadrones. Çelebicihan then calls for a formation of Muslim Armed Forces.

December 1917, Qurultay has declared Crimean Democratic Republic, founders of which were Çelebicihan and like-minded individuals. This was also when they adopted a democratic Constitution drafted by him, Cafer Seydamet and other peers. 

It talked about electoral right for everyone, any and all class ranks or titles were canceled, as were their priveleges, it asserted equal rights of women and men, established regulations on assembly of parlaiment. A regulation on election of national government - Directory - was also established. 

Çelebicihan, as well as Cafer Seydamet (who became a minister of foreign affairs and military minister), maintained connections to Central Council of Ukraine (Ukrainian Central Rada). In Spring 1917, by an invite of the Central Council, Crimea sent 10 people in a delegation to participate in the work of the Congress of Nations (Congress of the Enslaved Peoples of Russia) in Kyiv.

Apart of all that noted above, Çelebicihan lifted the obligation of Crimean Tatar women to wear a veil, which led to a wave of disconent from conservative part of populatoin. 

At the Congress, he declared and advocated for the equality of all nations that live in Crimea: "Our mission is to create a state like Switzerland. Nations of Crimea are a beautiful bouquet, and every nation needs equal rights and conditions, because we are to walk side by side."

It is thanks to Çelebicihan that a women's gymnasium (a school) and technical school were opened in Simferopol (Aqmescit), that a Pedagogic Institute based on Zıncırlı medrese was opened, and that there were established short-term advanced training courses for teachers. 

In addtion, he was a writer and a poet, one of his most known works is "A Prayer for Swallows", and his poem-pledge Ant Etkenmen is now a national anthem of all Crimean Tatars.

You can find the lyrics and a modern translation today in the Kitap Qalesi publication

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kitap Qalesi | Кримськотатарське видавництво (@kitap_qalesi)

Listen to it here:

Bolsheviks seizing power endangered the existence of Crimean People Republic. 

January 4, 1918, Çelebicihan took initiative to rsign from the positions of leadership.

Due to attempts to negotiate with Bolsheviks about the cessation of armed struggle in Crimea, on January 18, 1918, they took over the government in Simferopol (Aqmescit), arrested Çelebicihan and transported him to Sevastopol (Aqyar) in an airplane. February 23, 1918, he was shot in the city prison.

This is not the full list of what Çelebicihan has become famous for, in a fairly short time. He wrote poetry, published papers, organized an underground society for Crimean Tatar youth in İstanbul, there were also other changes that were introduced in the Republic."

A longer text is to come, and the author plans to publish it on her blog on Drukarnia. It already has an awesome post on where to learn Crimean Tatar language. And while it's in Ukrainian, most browsers, whether on mobile or PC, support auto translation. I translated this thread just because twitter makes it really tedious to read threads in other languages. So like. Subscribe and support the author!

[pigeonwhumps]

A look at what a BBU Tumblr dashboard might look like!

@bbu-on-the-side

CWs: BBU, pet whump, dehumanisation, everything that comes with that

🐢 turtleonhigh

As you start contemplating gifts for your loved ones, remember guys, a pet is for life, not just for Christmas! If you've never had a pet before, Domestics or Platonics are the best starter pets, but make sure to do your research thoroughly to keep your pet happy and healthy. Additionally, adopt, don't shop! There are so many pets desperately in need of loving homes. If you're insistent on purchasing from a supplier such as WRU rather than a shelter, choose refurbished. Give a pet the second chance they deserve!

🌟 thetruthinourstars

In Liberation this month: The shocking truth of WRU training away from prying eyes

🥸 bookworm420

https://www.liberation.com/20240423457899

(again. A year and a half after the first article and they're still having to expose it because no-one will listen...)

Oh come on, OP, everyone knows that's bullshit, spread by pet lib manipulators. Everyone: this is what bad actors look like!

🦀 just-a-crab

Sources?

#and before anyone leaps on me #i mean both of you #a reminder to always check where informations coming from

🍵 tea-and-pets

If prev was a pet, what would you give them as a little treat?

🐳 awhaleofatime

You guys are sick and perverted fuckers, I hope you know that

🌵 prickle

You're in the minority there mate

https://www.yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/explore/HumanPets

🐳 awhaleofatime

🌞 sunshinestarlight

Stfu and let people have their fun, dude

#if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all #pet love #srsly dude leave us alone #polls

🐭 mouseandsammy

Sammy just adores his new outfit! Look at him go!

🌞 sunshinestarlight

❤️

🪶 fansofafeather

Ew, why am I getting WRU adverts on my dash constantly? Do I look like someone who would buy a pet to you?

🦴

Yes

🪶 fansofafeather

This was originally just a vent, but since you asked so nicely...

Does it help? Does it really?

Sources:

Stats show that 42% of vulnerable young people surveyed are scared of being picked up by WRU. Furthermore, spending on welfare in the UK has decreased by 26% over the past ten years, with ministers even saying that those who need help should become pets and go where they're wanted, where their "place" is. Vulnerable people need help, not encouragement to sign their lives away, and the pet industry isn't helping with that (even if you say that it isn't WRU's fault for merely existing, their adverts aren't glowing examples of a non-manipulative company).

I could go into way more detail, about the manipulation and propaganda, and what's been associated with them over the years, the politicians in their pockets holding up legislation that would hinder sign-ups, not to mention that this is actual, literal slavery, but I'll leave it here for now. If you're actually bothered you can ask, but I get the feeling you're not anyway.

How do you see your future? | YouGov

How do you feel about the alleged forced sign-ups by WRU and similar companies? | Liberation

Fact-check: Has welfare spending increased? | BBC Verify

Secretary for Work and Pensions overheard suggesting that welfare recipients "go where they're wanted" and become pets | The Guardian

WRU adverts 2000-2024 | National Archives

👯 pet-love

Callout post

Be aware. User @/sam-the-multifandom is an active member of the pet lib community, who has engaged in targeted harassment of pet owners and supporters. Evidence is in their top posts. Block and report, and spread the word to other members of the community so we can stamp out this disgusting behaviour.

👁️ eyesonthewall

Oh ffs OP. This is your evidence? Seriously? Stop lying and go back to the hole you crawled out of.

💗 nolongeracult

Proving OP's point right there. I'm former pet lib, and I can honestly say it's the most toxic community I've ever been a part of.

🍰 twopets-twocakes

Even more than the Star Wars fandom? 😝

💗 nolongeracult

YES

#pet love #their choice #petlib is toxic #love your pet #pet for life

[girlactionfigure]

When she was a baby, she was given the nickname, “Schne”. Translated it means "a gentle breeze."

“She was a young woman who loved to sing, dance and travel,” according to writer Deutsche Welle.

But, in her country, like many countries, she didn’t have the freedom, to be herself, to even allow her hair to be caressed by a gentle breeze.

According to journalist and activist Masih Alinejad, “Schne” had told her mother:

I can’t choose what I wear . . . I don’t have the right to dance in public. By law, I’m not allowed to be myself. “‘I’m already dead,’” she said, according to journalist and activist Masih Alinejad.

She knew the dangers.

There was an ever-present fear of the police and the Guidance Patrols, widely known as "morality police," her aunt says.

“But when I go to the streets,” she said. “I have a dream. And that makes me alive.”

In 2022, Jina “Mahsa” Amini was with family visiting her brother when she was arrested for “improperly” wearing her hijab, according to Forbes. She was brought to a police station.

Her aunt says she heard what happened from one of the two cousins who avoided detention, according to Welle. She resisted being arrested, but she was still forced into the vehicle. The cousin followed the "morality police" to the police station, she says, and around two hours after the young woman’s arrest, some young women ran out of the station screaming "They killed her!"

According to writer Maggie McGrath, “after reports of the horrific incident emerged (thanks in part to reporters Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, whom the Iranian regime has since jailed), protests erupted across Iran. They were led by women who tore off their hijabs, cut their hair and adopted a rallying cry of ‘women, life, freedom.’”

March 8 was International Women’s Day.

“Over 2.5 billion women and girls around the world are affected by discriminatory laws and the lack of legal protections, often in multiple ways,” according to the United Nations.

See the UN’s Infographic on Women's rights and the law in comments below.

In a speech ahead of International Women’s Day, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned, “Decades of global progress on women’s rights are ‘vanishing before our eyes,’ arguing sexual abuse, a lack of educational and employment opportunities and the rollback of reproductive rights have pushed the goal of gender equality ‘300 years away.’”

“It's a fundamental human right for girls and women to live autonomous lives, building futures for themselves that reflect their innermost dreams and desires,” said Jessica Giusti, deputy director of communications for Girl’s Up, writing for Newsweek. “But sweeping attacks on female agency—bodily, intellectually, and otherwise—from Afghanistan, to Iran, to the United States and beyond, deny girls and women their power and capacity to thrive.”

This is a new story for the Jon S. Randal Peace Page. The Peace Page focuses on past and present stories seldom told of lives forgotten, ignored, or dismissed. The stories are gathered from writers, journalists, and historians to share awareness and foster understanding, to bring people together. And, as such, the stories this month for Women’s History Month are never relegated to one single month - they are available all year in the Peace Page archives and on this page each week throughout the year. We encourage you to learn more about the individuals and events mentioned here and to support the writers, educators, and historians whose words we present.

~~~~~

Ashkan Amini, Jina Mahsa Amini's brother, wrote on Instagram on October 11, 2022:

"We never imagined the day would come when our mother would fall asleep crying on your bed, while our father sat in the corner of the room hiding his tears from us, and that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to open the glove box of my car in case I caught sight of your hijab. ... My only wish is to embrace you one more time ..."

“For girls and women the world over, the fight for humanity and dignity is as alive as ever,” wrote Giusti.

“Girls in Afghanistan are forbidden under order of the Taliban to attend public and private universities, following an edict . . . that kept children and young women from continuing their middle school and high school educations. The strict dress code enforced by Iran's "morality police," which launched massive, ongoing protests . . . following the death of 22-year-old Jina "Mahsa" Amini, while in police custody, prevents girls and women from expressing their own individualism, religion, and cultural identities safely and authentically.”

UN Secretary General Guterres pointed to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, where he said “women and girls have been erased from public life . . . girls have been barred from attending school past the sixth grade and women have been ordered to cover their faces in public and stay at home unless of a case of necessity.”

“In Ukraine, investigators have found widespread instances of sexual abuse by Russian forces, following the Kremlin’s invasion of the country last year, including rape and forced nudity—Russian officials have denied allegations its troops have committed human rights abuses on civilians. A U.N. report released in November found instances of Russian troops targeting girls as young as four years old and as old as 80.”

~~~~~

“Women's History Month is not just about celebrating famous figures but also about recognizing everyday heroes who make a difference in their communities,” according to writer Tricia Goss.

“On International Women’s Day, do we pay enough attention to those courageous women breaking new ground for the next generation, whether they are pointed out to us by international film crews in faraway places or whether they are right here serving others at our local nonprofits?,” wrote Susana Villegas of the San Diego Union Tribune.

“Mahsa Amini is now a global symbol for freedom, not just in Iran,” says Nina Ansary, a historian and women’s rights activist.

She was an ordinary woman to whom thousands could relate, according to Hadi Ghaemi, the founder of the Center for Human Rights in Iran. “She wasn’t an activist. Her face and her experience were very intimately and tangibly familiar to every family in Iran, because every time their mothers, sisters, and their daughters go out of the house, they have been harassed by the morality police, or detained or even beaten.”

Like Mahsa Amini, there are "anonymous mothers, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters, sisters, aunts and childhood friends whose faces we see in the news demonstrating on the streets and in the schools of Tehran, Mexico City, Delhi, Tigray, Kabul, Abuja, Islamabad, Manila, and, yes, Washington, D.C. Namelessly, they persevere to simply exercise their rights to be who they choose to be.”

On Mahsa Amini’s tombstone is written "Dear Jina, you won't die. Your name will become a symbol."

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[coochiequeens]

All at once now ladies "But this never happens"

By Natasha Biase March 22, 2024

Spain’s Minister of Family, Youth, and Social Affairs in Madrid is raising alarm bells after locating multiple cases in which men convicted of domestic violence changed their legal gender identity. In a letter issued to the Minister of Equality, Ana Dávila-Ponce de León Municio detailed her concerns that the safety of female victims of violence was at risk due to Spain’s “progressive” approach towards gender identity.

In her letter, issued March 18, Minister Dávila-Ponce de León noted that she had become aware of six cases in the autonomous region of Madrid where men charged with violence against women had changed their legal gender identity — a process that was streamlined and made significantly easier following the enactment of Spain’s “Trans Law” in 2023.

In addition to updating their registered sex, three of the men made requests to stay in women’s shelters with the wives and children who had been escaping from them. So far, concerned staff at the shelters have blocked their access but may be violating the nation’s gender discrimination laws as a result.

The letter sent by Minister Dávila-Ponce de León to Minister Redondo Garcia.

But perhaps most disturbingly, an abuser changing his legal sex has a tremendous impact on the resources the victims are able to access. In one of the cases recently highlighted by El Mundo, a female victim of sexual assault was stripped of the special protection provided for victims of physical and sexual abuse because officials told her that her aggressor, who drugged and raped her in front of her young daughter, “was no longer registered as a man, but as a woman.”

In Spain, special gender-based violence charges exist, providing female victims of male violence specific protections and resolutions which can impact divorce or separation proceedings, custody, and other important factors. Victims of gender-based violence can also access special protections intended to ensure they are safe from their male abuser.

Because a female cannot be convicted of gender-based violence, male abusers who change their legal sex can avoid this charge and deny their female victims of those legal protections.

As previously reported by Reduxx, a man in Spain who abused his female partner for opposing his gender transition avoided charges of gender-based violence by legally changing his identification to “female” and adopting a woman’s name. As a result, his victim was unable to obtain a specific protection order for intimate partner violence which would typically result in the male abuser being removed from the home to minimize the financial impact to the woman at a time where they are most vulnerable.

Despite only one year passing since the Trans Law was enacted by Spanish parliament, making it easier for people to “self-identify” their gender on their legal documents, several cases have emerged involving men using the law to receive financial, social, or legal benefits. The phenomenon is now being referred to as “trans fraud.”

Earlier this month, Reduxx reported that dozens of male civil servants in one small Spanish community changed their gender identity reportedly just to get benefits allocated for females. Among them was Roberto Perdigones, a 35-year-old Army corporal, who boasted of changing his legal sex to “female” after deciding he identified as an “intersex bigender” person.

From that moment on, he began to enjoy the benefits: the day he got his new ID card, he showed up at the barracks with earrings, long hair and a beard, now able to disregard mandatory dress code regulations without repercussions.

But the benefits are not limited to aesthetic issues, with Perdigones also now qualifying for a mother’s pension as he is a “woman” with a child.

“By changing my sex, as I have been informed, my pension has gone up. Because women receive more in retirement pensions to compensate for the inequality. In addition, I get 15% more because I have a child,” he boasted.

“I even have a private room in the barracks, all to myself, with a private bathroom. Because, being a woman, I can’t be with the men, and I didn’t consider it appropriate to be with the biological women out of respect for them. I’ve had the room to myself since the sex change.”

Perdigones also intends to seek a promotion and will be utilizing the so-called “affirmative action measures” designed to increase female presence in the Armed Forces command.

As Perdigones is approaching the mandatory age of retirement for temporary soldiers, obtaining a permanent position would be beneficial for him. Perdigones will be applying as a “woman,” since the physical tests are less demanding and because certain positions are seeking more female representation.

[sweetlittledaisy7]

It's National Adoption Awareness Month

Here's what I'm going to leave you with.

Adoptive parents and everyone else.

1. Please stop telling adoptees they need to be grateful. We have nothing to be grateful for.

2. Our birth family will always be part of us. No matter how bad they are. Many of us think about where we came from. A closed adoption doesn't prevent our feelings of not knowing.

3. Stop sharing about adoption on social media. I hate the videos of adoptees crying getting adopted or the meet my adopted child. That's private. Stop sharing the child's story. We're people with our own feelings and interests not just the adopted kid. This also forces us to be grateful.

4. Stop promoting adoption. Yes. Unless it's the waiting kids from foster care who actually don't have people willing to take them in. They're waiting for adoption but because they're older most will never be adopted. I see people promoting infants getting adopted all the time. Praying for a mom to get pregnant so they can adopt. Promote the already born kids waiting.

5. We're our own person. We have our own thoughts and feelings many might not agree with. As an adoptee, I'm not obligated to follow what my adoptive parents follow or what everyone else wants me to follow.

6. Look for our birth family and keep records. Seriously, did you know in most states adoptees can't get their birth records? It's crazy. So keep records.

7. We don't have to be a cheerleader for adoption. Remember we didn't get a choice.

8. Stop using us for political nonsense.

9. Don't change our names, history, or background because you think we're blank states or to move on from our past. We have families before you ever came into our lives. I was an infant when I was adopted but before papers were signed I was inside my birth mom. I was hers before I was my parents.

10. Don't lie. Never keep secrets. We will find out. Trust me when we do you've broken any trust you had forever and will cause resentment. Be honest. Look, some of us came from horrible circumstances but that's life. It's our story. It's better for it to come from you so we can process it with you than for us to find out. Every adoptee should know they're adopted and their circumstances.

11. Don't get offended at real mom and dad or when we look/want a relationship with our birth families.

12. Not every little thing is a diagnosis. Sometimes it's grief.

13. An adopted child will never be the biological child you couldn't have.

[covid-safer-hotties]

False divisions and dubious equivalencies Children’s rights during the COVID-19 pandemic - Published June 18, 2024

Introduction In January 2022, nearly two years after the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), millions of students, educators, and parents around the world, including in the United States (US) protested that no student should have to risk their health for education (Pinsker 2022) However, many Western governments—led by Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK), and the US—have chosen to ignore calls for public health and safety. As Sweden adopted the least protective approach to community transmission, contrarian physicians in the US and UK advanced the anomalous Swedish example for in-person schooling without mitigations, particularly as soon as pediatric COVID-19 vaccines were in sight. Despite proving false for previously-vaccinated age groups, the most controversial and oft-mistaken contrarians—inexpert in social or behavioral sciences—claimed that ending school masking requirements would incentivize parents to vaccinate younger children, whose vaccine uptake never reached adequate levels despite the implementation of this advice (MSNBC 2022). Public admissions of such mistakes have never led to correcting the policies based on them. Instead, the lack of health and safety in schools resulting from zero-mitigation policies continues to cause great physical and psychosocial harms to children and families.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—the worst global health crisis in over a century—at least 10.5 million children in the world have lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19, tens of thousands of children have died, and millions have suffered disability (Bellandi 2022; UNICEF 2022). The pathway of SARS 2 infection is through the respiratory system, but COVID-19 (or COVID) is a multisystemic, vascular, and neurotropic disease with immunological effects that often renders survivors vulnerable to other infections and morbidities (Smadja et al. 2021; Temgoua et al. 2020; Zhou et al. 2020). Although the vast majority of those infected live past the initial, acute phase of infection, survivors of COVID-19 are at substantial and cumulative risk for Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), also known as Long COVID, regardless of age, vaccination, or health status (Iacurci 2022).

Life expectancy has fallen in four out of five OECD nations during the pandemic, and dramatically in the US, reversing decades-long gains (British Medical Journal 2022). Long COVID is a chronic manifestation of COVID-19 after the acute phase of infection with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, or SARS 2), with prolonged effects and substantial global prevalence (Chen et al. 2022). Each COVID infection carries between a one-in-five and a one-in-eight chance of progressing to Long COVID within about a month or more of infection, with recent studies reporting as high as nearly one-in-two prevalence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022d; Van Beusekom 2022). Long COVID commonly causes chronic fatigue, neurological damage, psychological disorders, memory impairment, confusion, and numerous other serious and lasting sequelae in healthy people across age groups, such as blood clots, heart attacks, and a three-fold increased risk of death within a year of a non-severe infection (Al-Aly, Bowe, and Xie 2022; Salari et al. 2022; Uusküla et al. 2022; Xu, Xie, and Al-Aly 2022). Long COVID experts admonish against current policies of mass infection, asserting the need to create awareness of this “urgent problem with a mounting human toll” (Ballering et al. 2022; Kikkenborg Berg et al. 2022; Lopez-Leon et al. 2022).

Princeton historian Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor describes the US toll of death and disability as “surreal,” which official estimates undercount (Taylor 2022). More than one million Americans died in fewer than two-and-a-half years, exceeding four thousand deaths per day several times (Taylor 2022). More than 7 percent of the US population (twenty-three million people) suffer from disabling Long COVID, causing more than half a million Americans to become unemployed (Iacurci 2022; British Medical Journal 2022). While comprising only 4 percent of the global population, the US has the highest COVID-19 death toll in the world, has fared worse than peer countries, and has accounted for approximately one-quarter of global COVID infections and one-sixth of deaths (Bennett and Cuevas 2022; World Health Organization 2022b).

COVID-19 is the leading infectious cause of death in US children, and among the top five causes of pediatric death overall, even after vaccination (White House 2022a). US COVID mortality has exceeded four decades of AIDS mortality (Thrasher 2022, 9–10). However, in the third year of the pandemic, 4,100 COVID deaths per week—more than a weekly September 11 mass casualty event—has been treated as unremarkable by US media and politicians (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022a; British Medical Journal 2022). Public health scientists, physicians, economists, and other experts representing the consensus view of the pandemic warn that “Leaders and policymakers must not accept or normalise our dangerous current status quo,” including through minimization of hazards, which lead to widespread dissemination of false beliefs (British Medical Journal 2022). Yet, leading the way, after Sweden and the UK, the US government has ended effective COVID public health mitigations, despite ongoing and escalating need for public safety measures. Other nations, such as New Zealand and Singapore, loosened otherwise stringent national safety protocols only after achieving significantly lower per-capita death rates and making considerable public health investments to secure their populations during upcoming surges (British Medical Journal 2022).

In the US and UK, poverty, gender, and race are the strongest determinants of disease burden, encompassing public-facing workers in health, service, and retail sectors (Sustainable Development Solutions 2022; Taylor 2022). Those with fewest resources carry the greatest burdens. COVID fatality rates, and therefore COVID health concerns, are consistently far higher among Black, Latinx, and other US racial minority groups (Pew Research 2021b). Counties experiencing the highest death rates are those with average poverty rates of 45 percent (Taylor 2022).

Nations that consistently implement public health measures and/or have better infrastructure for health, safety, and education see more equitable outcomes across various socio-economic metrics. The zero COVID policies of New Zealand, Australia, China, and Pacific Island nations experienced relatively rare mortality and low morbidity overall in proportion to their populations than laissez-faire nations, translating to roughly eight to ten times lower case fatality rates (Our World in Data 2020–2022; World Health Organization 2022a). Nations in which mitigations are normalized, such as the Republic of Korea and Japan, have experienced remarkably lower mortality and morbidity (Our World in Data 2020–2022). Cuba took the approach of closing in-person schools indefinitely and used the widely accessible medium of state television to broadcast national curricula during school days so that schoolchildren could continue engaging educational material from home or settings outside of school (Goodman 2021a). Cuban leadership explained that they based this decision on epidemiological and experiential understanding that viruses transmit most efficiently among children in school settings, and as a result, focused on developing a COVID vaccine for children first.

Depending on the state and timing, US pandemic response has fallen along a continuum ranging from aiming to eradicate or contain the virus (most protective) to laissez-faire (least protective), the latter of which became the dominant national approach (Bai et al. 2022; Gretchen 2020; Long et al. 2022; Normile 2021; Yang et al. 2022). Laissez-faire refers to minimal regulations in the public interest by the state, and prioritization of “free market” activity and individual “choice” (Scott and Marshall 2009, 405). Laissez-faire nations deprioritized children’s vaccination, focusing instead on protecting the elderly, who, in the US, enjoy far greater wealth, political power, and governmental spending and benefits than children (Corsaro 2015, 308–314).

Research on children’s rights during the pandemic inadequately addresses the ways children’s rights to life, health, and safety have been falsely rendered oppositional to education and child development under the guise of championing children, uncritically accepting dominant narratives underwriting laissez-faire policies (e.g., Adami and Dineen 2021). This chapter reviews scientific studies, news articles, surveys, and statistical data involving experts and policymakers, and finds that the dominant narrative of school reopenings manufactured a “debate” that created false divisions and dubious equivalencies between different sets of children’s rights. Despite scientific and international-legal consensus on children’s rights to life, health, and safety as fundamental, the protection of these rights during the pandemic was rendered adversarial to child development, psychosocial well-being, and children’s economic, educational, and social welfare rights. Dominant discourse also ignored socio-economic disparities or leveraged them in ways to promote in-person schooling without mitigations.

How and why this occurred is analyzed from an intersectional perspective, meaning that inequities and injustices resulting from harmful policies are understood as having systemic and historical roots along the lines of race, class, gender, and generational disparities, which are reproduced in and through law, politics, and policy (Crenshaw 1998). An intersectional approach shows that violations of children’s rights to life, health, and safety are occurring through the exploitation and reinforcement of longstanding structural inequities, while creating new ones. Laissez-faire policy regarding childhood education has been driven by politics and power, against scientific consensus and public opinion. Coordinated inauthentic actions, disinformation campaigns, and political violence are considered within the scope of politics and power disfiguring public policy in violation of children’s rights.

The adoption of laissez-faire pandemic policies has occurred through at least three primary means, including (1) minimization or denialism and mythologizing regarding the harms of COVID-19 to children and their network effects; (2) a moral panic of pediatric mental health and academic attrition blamed on mitigation measures; and (3) political prioritization of narrow, short-sighted economic aims that insist upon labor and schooling in unsafe spaces despite the availability of effective mitigations. A policy of no policy during a global public health emergency has created a crisis of children’s rights in which life, health, safety, and education are routinely undermined, with poorer socio-economic outcomes. This requires corrective reframing of pandemic policy to combat disinformation, normalize mitigation of communicable disease, and prioritize children’s rights, needs, and perspectives. This chapter aims to expose violations of human rights through laissez-faire pandemic policy within the larger goals of generating critical awareness of their modus operandi and prevention of further systemic harms.

[lookingforcactus]

Non-paywall version here.

"Shawna Freeman Lane, 34, continued to teach college-level business by laptop after she gave birth by C-section in 2017. Her husband, Eric Lane, was home with her in Fircrest, Wash., for three weeks. The same thing happened in 2018, when their second child was born—except this time, Mr. Lane only got two weeks at home.

Having to leave his still-healing wife in the lurch was hard for Mr. Lane, as was tracking his children’s development via text messages while at work. But when their third was born last May, things were different. In 2020, Washington state had passed a new law entitling working parents to 12 weeks of paid leave, to bond with their newborn.

“It felt like winning the lottery, honestly,” said Mr. Lane, who stayed home for six weeks after their son was born, then another six weeks when Ms. Freeman Lane went back to work.

They are part of an explosion in the number of workers taking parental leave. In the 12 months through February [2023], a monthly 406,000 workers were absent on average due to paid or unpaid parental leave, up 13.5% from 2021, according to Labor Department data. The 478,000 working parents absent in January was the most since records began in 1994.

One driver behind the upswing is likely the increase in births in the past two years versus the prepandemic trend. The pandemic itself may also be a factor, as lockdowns and Covid kept many workers home.

But the main factor appears to be government and employer policies. While the U.S. remains the only advanced economy without nationally mandated paid parental leave, the share of workers with access to leave is growing, to 25% in March last year versus 19% in 2019, according to the Labor Department. Seven states plus the District of Columbia now require employers to provide paid leave, up from four in 2018, while private employers are also expanding the benefit. Four more states will require paid parental leave by 2026.

“As the state laws have passed, there has been a culture change, and more awareness and support for mothers and—especially—fathers around taking leave,” said Jane Waldfogel, a public affairs professor at Columbia University.

A greater propensity by fathers to take leave is an important contributor. The number of men on parental leave tripled to an average of 76,500 in the six months ended in February [2023] from five years earlier, whereas the number of women rose 11% to 336,000, according to census data.

More parental leave-taking benefits the economy in the impact on families’ well-being, said Emily Oster, economics professor at Brown University—ranging from near-term outcomes such as infant mortality rates to longer-term measures, including child test scores and adult earnings. “In this sense, leave now is an investment in the economic future,” Ms. Oster said...

Leave policies are a small but increasingly key way that firms compete for workers, according to Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter. About 3% of currently active online job postings nationwide explicitly advertise parental leave, about a fivefold increase from before the pandemic, ZipRecruiter data show.

Industries seeing the biggest increase are retail, and transportation and warehousing, said Ms. Pollak—something she calls the “Amazon effect.” The e-commerce giant was at the forefront of offering parental-leave benefits, prompting competitors to do the same...

Parents are also taking longer leaves. The typical mother now takes 120 days of bonding leave, up from 110 in 2019, and the median father is out for 60 days, a 15-day increase, according to Sparrow, a leave-management platform. New York state family bonding claims data show a similar trend, with moms claiming 9.9 weeks in 2021, a three-week gain from 2018, and dads extending their average leave by 2.3 weeks, to 6.9...

“My son is so much fun now. He’s getting to the stage where he’s his own human,” [Jonathan Leslie, a 36-year-old software engineer] said. “Having the open-ended play with him—that opportunity won’t come again.”

-via The Wall Street Journal, 4/8/23. Non-paywall version via ProgramBusiness, 4/10/23.

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

"Professor Neil Ferguson, the architect of Britain’s lockdown, today denied ever calling for the first national stay-at-home order – in the latest instance of lockdown backpedalling."

Professor Lockdown Denies Ever Calling For Lockdown

BY TYLER DURDEN

MONDAY, NOV 06, 2023 - 03:30 AM

Authored by Will Jones via The Brownstone Institute,

In one of the more bizarre moments at the Covid Inquiry so far, Professor Neil Ferguson, the architect of Britain’s lockdown, today denied ever calling for the first national stay-at-home order – in the latest instance of lockdown backpedalling. 

The Mail  has more.

Professor Neil Ferguson’s terrifying March 2020 models warned that 500,000 Brits would die unless tougher action was taken to curb the virus’s spread.

It spooked Boris Johnson into adopting draconian restrictions that saw the country told they “must stay at home.” Vaccines — considered the only safe route out of the pandemic — were still months away from being deployed.

But Professor Ferguson, who quit his role as a SAGE adviser two months after being caught breaking social distancing rules to meet his married lover, today insisted he didn’t tell officials to plunge the country into a lockdown.

He told the UK COVID-19 Inquiry that the situation was “a lot more complex.”

The inquiry is in its second module, which is examining core UK decision-making and political governance.

Hugo Keith KC asked: “Do you feel that you did confine yourself to the provision of scientific advice, or did you become, despite your best endeavours, irrevocably involved in determination of policy?”

Imperial College London’s Professor Ferguson, nicknamed ‘Professor Lockdown’ for his infamous modelling, said it was a “difficult question to answer.”

He said: “I know I’m associated very much with a particular policy.

“But as you’ll be aware from the evidence I’ve given in my statement and statements of evidence, the reality was a lot more complex. 

“I don’t think I stepped over that line to say ‘we need to do this now.’

“What I tried to do was at times, which was stepping outside the scientific advisory role, to try and focus people’s minds on what was going to happen and the consequences of current trends.”

The epidemiologist drew heavy flak for his team’s modelling on the Covid pandemic. 

Their work suggested 500,000 Brits would die if nothing was done to stop the spread of the virus and there would be 250,000 deaths if two-thirds caught Covid.

Worth reading in full.

Ross Clark in the Spectator says that perhaps the most remarkable revelation from Professor Ferguson’s inquiry evidence is that “he spoke to and emailed Ben Warner at No. 10 on March 13th, three days before the Imperial paper [Report 9] was published.”

Warner was a data scientist brought into Downing Street by Dominic Cummings and whom Cummings later credited for inducing pandemic alarm in No. 10, so Ferguson contacting him directly beforehand is significant. 

However, Clark notes that in his email to Warner,

“Ferguson then stopped short of damning the Government’s policy of mitigation rather than suppression. In fact, if the Government decided to continue with mitigation, he wrote, ‘there is a rational basis to that decision which I would say the science supports.’ However, he added, the Government should make it clear how many people were likely to die.

“Intriguingly, Ferguson then went on to write: ‘This event is in the natural disaster category and the cure (e.g. massive social distancing, shutdowns) could be worse than the disease.’ In other words, he had at least considered the possibility that lockdowns could cause more damage than they were worth – but neither he nor anyone else seems to have tried to model this.”"

[rabbitcruiser]

National Save the Eagles Day

With eyesight that is eight times better than humans, majestic eagles build their nests on top of high cliffs to get the best vantage point. And with a grip that is up to ten times stronger than humans, eagles are incredibly powerful. Both of these attributes make them amazing hunters. But there was one point when these birds almost became extinct.

National Save the Eagles Day is here to raise awareness about and promote the plight of these marvelous birds.

History of National Save the Eagles Day

Native to North America, Bald eagles were on the endangered species list for several decades but, thankfully, they were saved from extinction and removed from the list in 2007.

While bald eagles and golden eagles are the most well-known in Canada and the US, there are 60 different species of eagles that live all over the globe, many of them in Eurasia or Africa. These birds of prey have large wingspans and spend a lot of their time looking relaxed as they glide effortlessly throughout the air.

National Save the Eagles Day was founded by the local community of Ridgefield Village Park and the Bergen County Audubon Society in an effort to rescue one particular couple of eagles whose habitat was at risk.

When these two eagles, named Alice and Al, built their home in Ridgefield overlooking Overpeck Creek, there was some concern about health risks that might be involved and a development corporation decided to remove the eagles. However, the local community was unhappy with the solution and they decided to organize a way to allow this eagle couple to keep their home. And they succeeded!

Even though National Save the Eagles Day was originally established around a specific set of eagles, it has now gained traction and the celebration has spread!

National Save the Eagles Day Timeline

1782 Bald Eagle is adopted as US symbol

With anecdotal accounts of upwards of 100,000 nesting eagles, Americans choose this as a symbol of freedom.

1971 The Eagles band is formed

A frontrunner in American country rock, this band originally consists of Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Glenn Frey and Bernie Leadon.

1978 Bald Eagle is declared endangered

Under the Endangered Species Act, the US government works to protect the bald eagle, which has only 500 breeding pairs left on the planet.

2007 Bald Eagle removed from endangered list

While still protected, the Bald Eagle emerged from the endangered list as their populations had recovered significantly to more than 300,000.

2015 Save the Eagles Day begins

Founded in an effort to save a particular pair of eagles that were nesting in New Jersey, the first Save the Eagles Day is celebrated.

How to Celebrate National Save the Eagles Day

Get involved and have fun with National Save the Eagles Day by trying out some of these fun ideas:

Go Eagle Watching

Heading out early in the morning to go eagle watching might be the perfect activity to do in celebration of National Save the Eagles Day! Of course, it depends on location, so some people might need to turn it into a road trip to get to a good park or another place that is known for eagle watching.

Eagle watching requires some patience and dedication, but it can also be very satisfying. Head out early because eagles are the most active in the morning, from sunrise until about 10am when bald eagles are likely to be hunting and feeding.

While it might seem odd, some people don’t realize that, in some locations like Washington state, eagle watching is more likely to be successful in years that end in even numbers. This is because “even” numbered years tend to have higher populations of salmon that are swimming upstream. In addition, they may be most prevalent in certain areas in the month of December. And they also seem to enjoy hunting more on days that are cloudy!

Learn Fun Facts About Eagles

One cool way to celebrate National Save the Eagles Day is to raise awareness by learning and sharing some bits of trivia and fun facts about these fascinating birds.

Unlike most species, the female bald eagle is slightly larger than her male partner.

Sadly, most eagle related deaths are caused by humans, including impact with man-made structures, gunshot and poisoning.

While hawks have a strong cry, eagles actually sound a bit silly. Because of this, most films and television shows replace the actual sound of eagles with that of hawks.

Eagles can dive up to 100 miles per hour when hunting and they fly at about 30 miles per hour when traveling casually.

Make a Donation to Save Eagles and Other Wildlife

One superb way to be involved with helping out on National Save the Eagles Day is by making a financial contribution to a charity that helps to protect and rescue animals that are in danger. Consider learning more about one of these charities:

American Bald Eagle Foundation. Working to protect and preserve the habitat for bald eagles, this organization educates and also performs research activities to better serve the needs of these eagles.

American Eagle Foundation. This organization is similar to the one above, but it works to meet the needs of not only the bald eagle but also other birds of prey as well. Their mission is threefold: to conserve, educate and protect.

Defenders of Wildlife. This organization works to protect and help out all wildlife, including the bald eagle which is the only eagle that is unique to North America.

National Wildlife Federation. This is another charity dedicated to protecting and helping at-risk wildlife, including birds of prey.

Listen to Songs by the Eagles

In honor of the day, how about queuing up some music that was made by the classic rock band themselves, the Eagles? With more than twenty albums to their credit, as well as some video albums, there’s plenty of options for listening to this trailblazing country rock band.

Check out one – or several – of these favorite songs by the Eagles in celebration of Save the Eagles Day:

Hotel California (1976). One of the most famous songs by the band, this interesting tune tells a strange story that has been said to be about “excess in America”.

Take It to the Limit (1975). From the album, One of These Nights, this song is all about the encouragement to keep on trying, even when life gets tough.

Peaceful Easy Feeling (1972). From their debut album, this song’s lyrics are about a girl the singer is interested in, but he’s decided ahead of time that he’s not going to let her disturb his “peaceful, easy feeling”.

Take It Easy (1972). Written by Jackson Browne as well as Eagles band member Glenn Frey, this was the first single released by the Eagles and its message is about not getting “too big too fast”.

National Save the Eagles Day FAQs

How do eagles fly?

Eagles are able to fly through the air primarily by their ability to soar.

What do eagles eat?

Eagles typically have a diet of small mammals and birds, such as rabbits, grouse, gulls and more.

What saved the bald eagle from extinction?

Captive breeding, habitat protection, law enforcement and reintroduction efforts helped minimize the risk of extinction for the bald eagle.

Do eagles eat hawks?

Eagles who prey sometimes will eat small hawks or baby hawks after attacking their nest.

Do eagles mate for life?

Usually, bald eagles mate for life, making them loyal spouses and parents for their average 30 years of life.

Source

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 10.25

Holidays

Accounting Career Day

Angram Day (Day of Fulfillment; Nauru)

Armed Forces Day (Romania)

Balaclava Day

Basque Country Day (Spain)

Battle of Agincourt Day (UK)

Beet Root Day (French Republic)

Cartoonists Against Crime Day

Chucky The Notorious Killer Doll Day

Council of Elrond Day (Lord of the Rings)

Customs Officer’s Day (Russia)

Day of the Basque Country

Disabled Ace Day

Dioscuri (Shoemaker’s Day)

European Day of Justice

European Lawyers Day

Gormanudr (Old Icelandic)

International Artists Day

International Butterfly Skin Day

International Hoist the Colours Day

Know Your Classmates Day

Larry Itliong Day (California)

Longbow Day

Lung Health Day

MDS World Awareness Day

Military Chaplain Day (Ukraine)

National Danielle Day

National Dog Adoption Day (UK)

National Fine Art Appreciation Day

National Gospel Day (Cook Islands)

National Hay Safe Day (Australia)

National Hope for Henry Day

National I Care About You Day

National Kick Tall People Day

National Merri Music Day (a.k.a. Reggae)

National No Workplace Drama Day

National Shoe Lover Day

National Skinflammation Day

National Yasmin Day

Northamptonshire Day (UK)

Occipital Neuralgia Awareness Day

Pharmacy Buyer Day

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome Awareness Day (UK)

Punk-For-A-Day Day

Retrocession Day (Taiwan)

Say "Hey" Day

Thanksgiving Day (Grenada)

World Dwarfism Awareness Day

World Karate Day

World Opera Day

World Spina Bifida Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Feta Cheese Protection Day

International Crisp Sandwich Day (UK)

National Greasy Foods Day

Sourest Day

World Pasta Day

World Pizza Makers Day

Independence & Related Days

Constitution Day (Lithuania)

Hawke’s Bay Provincial Day (New Zealand)

Lienish Sovereign Republic (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

Republic Day (Kazakhstan)

Restoration Day (Taiwan; 1945)

Sovereignty Day (Slovenia)

Uantir (Declared; 2007) [unrecognized]

4th & Last Friday in October

Bring Your Jack-O-Lantern to Work Day [Last Friday before Halloween]

Comfort Food Friday [Every Friday]

Education Communication Day [Last Friday]

Field Trip Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Finally Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Five For Friday [Every Friday]

Food Waste Friday (Canada) [Last Friday]

Frankenstein Friday [Last Friday]

Flapjack Friday [4th Friday of Each Month]

Flashback Friday [Every Friday]

Flatbread Friday [Last Friday of Each Month]

Flirtatious Friday [4th Friday of Each Month]

Friday Finds [Every Friday]

Fry Day (Pastafarian; Fritism) [Every Friday]

Global Champagne Day [4th Friday]

International Bandanna Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

International Champagne Day [4th Friday]

Mokosh Day (Ukraine) [Last Friday]

National BETA Founder’s Day [4th Friday]

National Breadstick Day [Last Friday]

Nevada Day (Nevada) [Last Friday]

Red Friday [Friday of Last Full Week]

TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) [Every Friday]

World Lemur Day [Last Friday]

World Teachers’ Day (Australia) [Last Friday]

Weekly Holidays beginning October 25 (3rd Full Week of October)

International Magic Week (thru 10.31)

Festivals Beginning October 25, 2024

Arkansas Bean Fest and Championship Outhouse Races (Mountain View, Arkansas) [thru 10.26]

Armageddon Expo (Auckland, New Zealand) [thru 10.28]

Bram Stoker Festival (Dublin, Ireland) [thru 10.28]

Cedar Livestock Heritage Festival (Cedar City, Utah) [thru 10.26]

Czhilispiel (Flatonia, Texas) [thru 10.27]

Fredericksburg Food & Wine Fest (Fredericksburg, Texas) [thru 10.26]

French Food Festival (Larose, Louisiana) [thru 10.27]

Georgia Gourd Festival (Griffin, Georgia) [thru 10.27]

Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival (Richmond Hill, Georgia) [thru 10.26]

Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival (Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii) [thru 10.27]

Lund International Fantastic Film Festival (Lund, Sweden) [thru 10.31]

Naples Stone Crab Festival (Naples, Florida) [thru 10.27]

Shrimp & Grits Festival (Jekyll Island, Georgia) [thru 10.26]

South Louisiana Blackpot Festival & Cookoff (Lafayette, Louisiana) [thru 10.26]

Taste Gala (Indianapolis, Indiana)

Feast Days

Akihisa Ikeda (Artology)

Ann Tyler (Writerism)

Antonio Ciseri (Artology)

Bernat Calbó (a.k.a. Bernard of Calvo; Christian; Saint)

Boniface I, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Canna (Christian; Saint)

Carlo Gnocchi (Christian; Blessed)

Cockatoo (Muppetism)

Crysanthus and Daria (Western Christianity; Martyrs)

Crispin and Crispinian (Christian; Martyrs)

The Day To Be Named Later (Church of the SubGenius)

Elif Shafak (Writerism)

Feast of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales (Christian; Martyrs)

Fréret (Positivist; Saint)

Fructus (Christian; Saint)

Gaudentius of Brescia (Christian; Saint)

Goeznovius (Christian; Saint)

The Hallowing of Nestorius (Christian; Saint)

Ismail Gulgee (Artology)

John Berryman (Writerism)

Minias of Florence (Christian; Saint)

Mar Nestorius (in the Nestorian churches; Christian; Saint)

Munzipan Feast (Shamanism)

Nils Dardel (Artology)

Pablo Picasso (Artology)

Peter Ledger (Artology)

Requena Nozal (Artology)

Richard Parkes Bonington (Artology)

Selket’s Day (Pagan)

The Six Welsh Martyrs and companions (in Wales; Christian; Saint)

Tabitha (Dorcas; Christian; Saint)

Taiyō Matsumoto (Artology)

Tegulus (Christian; Saint)

Thaddeus McCarthy (Christian; Blessed)

Thesmophoria begins (Ancient Greek festival honoring the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone; ends 27th; originally 11-13 Pyanepsion)

Tyrus Wong (Artology)

Victoria Francés (Artology)

World Pasta Day (Pastafarian)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Adventures of Popeye (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1935)

Beat Crazy, by Joe Jackson (Album; 1980)

Better Than Revenge, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2010)

Billy Jack, by Honeyhoney (Album; 2011)

Camelot (Film; 1967)

Curly Sue (Film; 1991)

Daydream Believer, by The Monks (Song; 1967)

The Electric Company (TV Series; 1971)

A Fine Feathered Frenzy (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1954)

Frida (Film; 2002)

The Grass is Blue, by Dolly Parton (Album; 1999)

Halloween (Film; 1978)

Happy Holidays (Phantasies Cartoon; 1940)

The Housing Problem (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1946)

Jackass: The Movie (Film; 2002)

Jolly the Clown (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1957)

Krush Groove (Film; 1985)

Meatless Tuesday (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1943)

National Ransom, by Elvis Costello (Album; 2010)

Newhart (TV Series; 1982)

No Plan B, 27th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2022)

No Woman, Not Cry, by Bob Marley (Song; 1974)

Otogizōshi: The Fairy Tale Book of Dazai Osamu, by Osamu Dazai (Short Stories; 1945)

Pal Joey (Film; 1957)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bb Minor, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Piano Concerto; 1875)

Pink Arcade (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1978)

Poinciana, by Benny Carter (Song; 1943)

The Preamble (America Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1975)

The Satanic Bible, by Anton Szandor LaVey (Religious Text; 1969)

Seven Sinners (Film; 1940)

Shadow of the Moon, by M.M. Kaye (Novel; 1956)

Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch (Animated Antics Cartoon; 1940)

The Snoozing’ Bruin (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1971)

Still Crazy After All These Years, by Paul Simon (Album; 1975)

Speak Now, by Taylor Swift (Album; 2010)

Swords in the Mist, by Fritz Leiber (Short Stories; 1968) [Fafhrd and Gray Mouser #3]

Tour de Farce (The Inspector Cartoon; 1967)

Twelfth Night (Film; 1996)

Today’s Name Days

Krispin, Krispinian (Austria)

Darija, Katarina (Croatia)

Beáta (Czech Republic)

Crispinus (Denmark)

Raivo, Riivo, Veevo, Viivo (Estonia)

Sointu (Finland)

Crépin (France)

Daria, Hans, Ludwig, Lutz (Germany)

Chrysanthi, Hrysaphis (Greece)

Bianka, Blanka (Hungary)

Daria (Italy)

Beāte, Beatrise, Betrise (Latvia)

Darija, Inga, Švitrigaila, Vaigedė (Lithuania)

Margrete, Märtha, Merete (Norway)

Bończa, Bonifacy, Chryzant, Daria, Inga, Kryspin, Maur, Sambor, Taras, Teodozjusz, Wilhelmina (Poland)

Marcian, Martirie (Romania)

Aurel (Slovakia)

Bernardo, Crisanto, Crispín, Frutos (Spain)

Inga, Ingalillt (Sweden)

Denzel, Crispin, Crispina, Gavin, Gawen (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 299 of 2024; 67 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 5 of Week 43 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 27 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Jia-Xu), Day 23 (en-Xu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 23 Tishri 5785

Islamic: 21 Rabi II 1446

J Cal: 29 Orange; Eighthday [29 of 30]

Julian: 12 October 2024

Moon: 38%: Waning Crescent

Positivist: 19 Descartes (11th Month) [D’Aguesseau / Montesquieu]

Runic Half Month: Wyn (Joy) [Day 4 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 34 of 90)

Week: 3rd Full Week of October

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 3 of 30)

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Unlike most of their brothers and sisters in eastern Canada, socialists in both Port Arthur and Fort William [now Thunder Bay] wholeheartedly embraced the creation of the OBU [One Big Union]. By October 1919, all 160 starch workers, all the bakers, and 18 general workers in Fort William united with the members of the IWW’s LWIU [Lumber Workers International Union] in Port Arthur and joined. The FOC’s [Finnish Organization of Canada] decision to declare itself a propaganda organization of the OBU created an auxiliary in Port Arthur that gained control of the Finnish Labour Temple by assuming its debt.

In the midst of the election campaign of October 1919, local newspapers reported that the OBU had established branches in the region and that an OBU-affiliated Central Labour Council (CLC) had been established in Fort William. The council adopted the structure, constitution, and bylaws of the Winnipeg council. Well attended by workers of all nationalities and by a variety of unions, the council heard predictions that the local trades and labour councils would disappear within the next few months. The newly formed executive board of the CLC reported that both the coal handlers of Fort William, who had been responsible for a number of the strikes before the First World War, and the pulp and paper mill workers were engaged in discussions that would see them joining the OBU within the next few weeks. The Brotherhood of Carpenters local, consisting of 250 members, had already gone over to the OBU. The General Workers’ Unit reported 60 new members in the last week alone.

The OBU thus appealed to a variety of strata within the working class and, in principle and up to a point in reality, transcended the region’s deep-seated ethnic divisions. Finnish workers, however, made up by far the largest ethnic group within its ranks. Well aware of this fact, and in order to discourage their further radicalization, police in both cities began a campaign of repression and harassment that, not incidentally, coincided with the 1919 election. Soon after the establishment of the first OBU branches in Port Arthur, for example, a series of raids shook that city’s “Finnish quarter” (the area immediately around the Finnish Labour Temple on Bay Street). Both local and Royal North-West Mounted Police (RNWMP) admitted to having searched, on 9 October, seven homes described as “propaganda depots,” confiscating a large amount of “Bolshevik” literature and arresting seven “Finlanders.” These arrests were followed the next day by the search and seizure of “red” material at the Fort William bookstore of Edward Ollikkala, including a large amount of IWW literature. The RNWMP was quick to point out that “of the three centers of foreign population,” the Fort William coal dock section remained quiet and those arrested were not “enemy aliens,” merely “aliens.”

The presence of the OBU at the Lakehead worried the TLC [Trades and Labour Congress of Canada] so much that it sent William Varley, an American Federation of Labor (AFL) organizer from Toronto, to the region in late October to address the local Trades and Labour Councils and the General Workers’ Unit of the OBU in Fort William. Varley devoted much of his time to demonizing the Winnipeg General Strike and the “hopelessness of this form of action.” He contended that the AFL “had done much for the workers and was the only form of organization.” Not surprisingly, his comments were met with ridicule, contempt, and often laughter. Rather than promoting a discussion about bridging the growing division among the region’s more radical unions, the ILP [Independent Labour Party], and TLC members, the meeting intensified the general hostility towards the distant labour centre. ILP alderman A.H. Dennis, for example, contended that the TLC and it alone was to blame for the division that existed both locally and nationally among workers. As he suggestively remarked, “Labour had shown by the elections in Fort William, what they could do when it got together.” The TLC, he suggested, “was out of harmony altogether with the workers,” and it no longer represented “the workers any more than the Government did the people.” The OBU, the majority present agreed, was a necessity because of the past actions of the TLC and the AFL. It appears that at this point both leftists and centrists at the Lakehead supported the OBU and identified it as the defender of regional interests against the aloof bureaucrats of the TLC. As one delegate, tired of the double-speak and manipulation demonstrated by Varley, declared: “Well, if that’s what you want, let’s hand in our charter.”"

- Michel S. Beaulieu, Labour at the Lakehead: Ethnicity, Socialism, and Politics, 1900-35. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2011. p. 70-71.